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Angels Capture Little League Title

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By DAREK SHARP

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 18, 2008

PLANT CITY - At the beginning of the Little League season, it was clear to Rod Mason that his team was pretty good.

"I thought, even right after we drafted the teams, that it might be us and the Indians in the end," he said. "And the goal was to have the two Plant City teams playing in the Tournament of Champions final."

That goal was reached, and even better for Mason, his team won. On June 8, the Angels defeated the Indians 10-3 to win the Minor League District 4 Tournament of Champions in Polk City.

During the Minors (9- to 10-year-olds) regular season the Angels put up a 17-2-1 record while the Indians were second at 17-3. Actually, neither team won City Championship playoffs (that was the third-place Blue Jays), but they were both invited to represent Plant City in the district Tournament of Champions.

The Indians started the tournament with a 5-4 win over a North Lakeland team, then rolled past its next two opponents to earn a meeting with the Angels. For the first time this year, the Publix-sponsored Indians won, beating the Angels 9-8.

But after taking a loser's bracket game, the Angels earned a rematch with the Indians, winning twice by 10-3 scores to take the tournament title.

"We were definitely the two teams to beat," Mason said. "The key for us was pitching. A lot of those teams had only two good pitchers. We had six, and when you're having to play multiple games, those other teams are doomed."

Colin "Sparky" Allman pitched the championship game.

"Here's a kid who's 60 pounds, and 4-foot-6. He puts everything he has into it," Mason said.

The Angels, sponsored by Universal Structures, had two players hit their first-ever homers, Chelsea Baker and Chris Gosslin. Baker, who is Mason's daughter and the only girl on the team, was one of the Angels' top pitchers as well.

Baker, Allman and Wesley Tanner will all be a part of the Plant City District 4 All-Star Team as well. The All-Star tournaments begin this month.

Jacob Cothren, Nick Koelster, Ryan Long, Chris Macca, Caleb Iesemenger and Benji Padgett also contributed to the title.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib.com.

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